The Social Media Super Bowl

With Super Bowl Sunday just around the corner, you can expect that there will be no shortage of chatter on social media during the next three days. Between the commercials jockeying for laughs, Beyonce’s halftime performance, and, of course, the game itself, even if you aren’t tuned in, you will have a live feed of commentary from friends and celebrities alike. So, in the spirit of social media and most watched contest of the year, we have decided to see how the two teams match up online. Instead of evaluating the two teams’ athletic prowess and snap play-calling, however, we will investigate the Baltimore Ravens’ and the San Francisco 49ers Twitter and Facebook followings.

San Francisco 49ers

Baltimore Ravens

Followers

331,697

272,128

Tweets

11,507

25,823

Likes

1,680,775

1,353,032

Likes/City Population

2.07

2.18

Colin Kaepernick

Joe Flacco

QB Followers

163,974

68,906

QB Likes

54,923

85,231

So, what does the final score look like? First off, both teams have significant followings on Facebook and Twitter. However, the San Francisco 49ers have the edge in the overall quantity of likes, and followers, even though the Baltimore Ravens have tweeted almost twice as many times. So, in terms of sheer quantity, it would appear the 49ers have the advantage in the Social Media Bowl in terms of reach.

However, when one takes into account the relative populations of Baltimore and San Francisco, the predictions are different. Baltimore edged San Francisco for the number of likes per city resident, meaning that Baltimore attracted relatively more likes in and out of its city than the 49ers, meaning it is more productive on the social media field. The quarterback social media numbers point to a hard-fought battle as well. While Flacco has the advantage over Kaepernick on Facebook, the opposite is true concerning Twitter followers.

Our conclusion? The social media match-up is a toss-up. Both teams have huge presences on social media, and each team possesses its strengths. The 49ers have the advantage of size, while Baltimore is more productive. However, with all due respect to these two teams, one Super Bowl attendant crushes both teams on social media. Beyonce has over 7 million followers on Twitter and over 42 million likes on Facebook. Not bad for sending only 4 tweets. And, with these three social media heavyweights at the Superdome Sunday, we can expect our feeds to be worthy of the biggest game of the year.